Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Solomon Islands (Ratification: 1985)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Trafficking in persons. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the observations by the Associations of Solomon Islands Manufactures (ASIM), the Solomon Islands National Teachers’ Association (SINTA) and the Solomon Forestry Association (SFA), regarding certain forms of trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution in the Solomon Islands, as well as some cases of forced child labour in the plantation sector, mostly within families. It requested the Government to provide its comments on the matters raised.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report that in the framework of the current labour law review exercise being carried out in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, and with the technical support of the ILO, special consideration will be given to adopting measures to combat effectively the trafficking in persons for the purpose of exploitation, including the adoption of dissuasive penalties. The Government also indicates that other bodies and mechanisms were set up to monitor and combat trafficking in persons. These include the Combined Law Agency Group composed, inter alia, of the Ministry of Police and Justice and the Ministry of Finance (responsible for customs), and the Transnational Crime Unit, located in the Ministry of Police and Justice.

The Committee hopes that in the framework of the labour law revision, anti-trafficking provisions will be adopted prescribing penalties for the perpetrators of trafficking. The Committee also requests the Government to provide further information on the activities and the measures taken by the Combined Law Agency Group and the Transnational Crime Unit to combat trafficking in persons. Please provide available statistics on any penal proceedings which have been instituted against perpetrators of trafficking, including the penalties imposed.

2. Over a number of years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to supply information, including copies of relevant statutory instruments or administrative rules or regulations on: (a) any circumstances in which labour may be exacted, in the absence of a sentence, by virtue of the order of a court; (b)(i) any labour of a non-military nature which may be required of members of a disciplined force performing compulsory national service (other than conscientious objectors); (ii) the duration of engagement and conditions of resignation of career members of the disciplined forces and other public servants; (iii) any schemes providing for an obligation to serve for a definite period in return for education or training received; and (c) any labour which may be required as minor communal services to be considered as part of reasonable and normal civic obligations incumbent upon the members of the community.

Noting that the Government’s report contains no information on these matters, the Committee once again expresses the firm hope that the Government will not fail to supply the information requested in its next report.

Article 25. Penalties for the exaction of forced or compulsory labour. In its earlier comments, the Committee noted that sections 74 and 75 of the Labour Ordinance (1960) relating to forced labour have been repealed by the Employment Act of 1981. It requested the Government to indicate whether any legislative provisions have been adopted to replace the abovementioned section 75, which made the exaction of forced labour punishable as an offence and, more generally, how effect is given or is proposed to be given to Article 25 of the Convention concerning penalties to be imposed for the exaction of forced or compulsory labour. The Committee had noted the Government’s indication that the issue of the penalties to be imposed for the exaction of forced or compulsory labour will be reviewed in the framework of the current labour law reform undertaken in association with the employers’ and workers’ organizations and the ILO. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the adoption of provisions giving effect to Article 25 of the Convention and reiterates the hope that the Government will soon be able to report the progress made in this regard.